Lubricant purifying apparatus and indicator



June i7, 1947. v s.' D. PERLMAN 2,422,49

LUBRICANT PURIFYING APPARATUS'AND INDICATOR Filed Ap'ril 25, 1944 Patente'cl June 17, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICANT PURIFYING AIPRATUS AND INDICATOR Samuel Donald Perlman, Washington, D. C, Application April 25, 1944, Serial No. 532,690

(Cl. 18d- 6)` f 2 Claims.

l .c This invention relates to a structurally and functionally improved purifying and indicating apparatus and in its more specic aspects aims to provide a structure which will be of particular utility when applied to a motor-driven vehicle and for the purposes of purifying the lubricating oil circulating through the engine system, as well as indicating to the operator the condition of that oil..

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the foregoing type and by means of which particles of foreign matter, as well as diluents will be constantly removed from the oil stream as it circulates incident t the operation of the motor of the vehicle. Accordingly, not alone will substances which might actto clog the system or as abrasives in connection with the moving parts of the motor be removed from theoil, but also to a great extent acids and water will also be removed from the oil stream.

A further object is that of furnishing an apparatus of this type by means of which an operator may at all times be cognizant of the condition of the lubricant. Therefore, he will be able to readily determine when it is necessary to either renew the body of oil or the purifying portion or portions of lthe apparatus.

Another object is that of designing lan cilpurifying and indicating apparatus by means of which the operator may, with minimum effort, control the oil ow so that he may inspect the body of the oil as it circulates and without such body being subjected to any purifying action. Accordingly, it will be feasible for him to determine, for example: first, whether the oil body is in a condition such that it requires renewal; second, whether the purifying or filtering unit has absorbed all of the foreign particles or diluents which it is capable of receiving; and, third, whether that unit is, in effect, offering an obstruction to the cil flow such that it should be shortly or immediately renewed to prevent the damage occurring to the motor parts requiring lubrication.

Still another object is that of furnishing an apparatus and system of this type which may be applied to motors as heretofore constructed and without requiring any major alterations or revisions of the structure of the latter.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings illustrating one practical embodiment of the invention, and in which:

Fig. l is a somewhat diagrammatic View illustrating a general layout of motor such as oc- Y 2 curs in a motor vehicle together with the dash of such vehicle and showing the improved structure of the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a face View of the indicating mechanism which may be associated with` the dash;

and

Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 2.

In theseviews, the reference numeral It indicates a motor of any desired design' and which is provided with the usual oil pump I2. The dash portion II of the motor vehicle has also been shown in this view and, moreover, there has been diagrammatically indicated a line extending from the pump I2 and which has been identified by the numeral I3, as well as a line I4 which is connected to the parts of the motor requiring a circulation of oil. As willV be understood and in the vusual manner, with the motor operating the pump I2 will function to force oil from, for example, the sump portion of thecrank` case into the oil-supplying line I3. Assuming this line to be connected with oil-deliveringv line I4, the oil isfthereupon distributed to the several parts of the motor from which it is returned to the'sump portion. llhis cycle is repeated indefinitely with the motor operating. Y 1' As also sho-wn in this View, a filtering and purifying unit is conveniently disposed in advance of the dash II. This unit may include a casing I5 provided with, for example, a draining plug I6. A cover I'I may be removably-applied tothe casing Vand permit of access to the interior thereof. Located within the casing is any desirable and proper type of filtering or purifying unit or units. These may take any proper. form of construction and when interposed in the oil flow will serve to remove foreign particles from the body of the oil.A .Moreoven the body of the filtering material will, to a greater or lesser extent, remove from the cil body diluents such as water and acid. It is intended that periodically the cover I'I be removed and the ltering. body contained therein be either discarded and replaced with a new unit or that such body be otherwise renewed and `rendered suitable for continued functionings- As will be seen, the pipe I3 extends towards the casing I5. Interposed within this pipe is a valve I8, which may be of the four-way valve type. According to the present invention, it is preferred that such a valve control be provided and that there extend from the valve housing lines I9 and 20 through which'the oil distributed from the line It is preferred that the flow normally be from line I3 through line I9 and the casing I5 to thej line 20. With this thought in mind, an actuator such as a flexible cable 22 may be secured to the handle 2I. This actuator extends through the dash II and has secured to it a knobV 23; With the knob disposed .at a point adjacent the dash, the wire 22 will maintain the valve I8 in the desired po-sltion. If this knob or equivalent portion is projected or pulled towards the operator, `then the wire 22 will cause the actuator 2l to be shifted.V This will correspondingly move the valve and ycause a direct flow of fluid from the line I3 to the line 20, thus by-passing the casing I5.

Now referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that a preferred form of indicating mechanism may include a housing 24. This housingv may embrace a reflector portion 25 within which there is disposed a lamp 26. In advance of this lamp, a transparent tube 2'I is disposed. The ends of this tube Yare respectively connected to the lines 20 and I4. 1 Further tubes 28 and 2S may be arranged Vone to each side of the tube 2'I.` These tubes28 and 29 may also be transparent but are preferably colored to correspond to the coloration of oil when the latter isv respectively in unsuitable conditionfor lubricating purposes or in a suitable condition for such purpose. Arranged adjacent the tubes 21, 28 and 29'is a partition member `3i) `which may be formed with slits through which a greater or lesser portion of the tubesjare visible. This partition also acts as a mask for the light 26. As shown in Fig. 2, the face of the partition which is directed towards the operator mayhave their own indicia such as 3l indicating respectively the characteristic of the different colorations embodied in tubes 28 and j VWith the parts functioning in the preferred ,mannerii e. with line I3 connected to casing I), the oil owing from the purifying unit will pass through the tube 21. Due to the fact that this tube is preferably uncolored, theoperator will be ablenot alone to observe the oil flow but will `be cognizant of the color of the oil body passing through the tube 2l. He will instinctively comparesuch coloration with the coloration of tubes 28 and29 or any equivalent indicating portions.

So longas the body of oil maintains a coloration.

substantially equivalent to that of, for example,

Vtube v29 no concern need be felt. However, should sires' to by-pass such unit for a temporarylperiod, v

the actuator 23 may be shifted. Thereupon,joil will flow directly from the line YI3 tothe line 29 and so throughv the tube 21. If the oil flow there- The operator will then` tofore through that tube has been relatively sluggish, he will immediately become cognizant of the fact that the filtering unit requires renewal. Also, if under these circumstances the color of the oil darkens, he will realize that the filtering unit is functioning to remove impurities from the oil. Thereupon, the actuator 23 may be returned to its normal position.

If the indications are such that the operator is rendered aware of the fact that the ltering unit is, for example, clogged and therefore that insuiiicient oil is reaching the moving parts of the motor, he may, of course, leave the knob 23 in its yextended position.

Under such circumstances, the oil will by-pass the unit I5 and circulate in the usual manner direct to the line I4 and thence Ato the bearings. Thereupon, the koperator will renew the body of the filtering unit within the Ycasing I5 at the earliest moment.

As will be appreciated, any desired substitute construction might be employedin lieu of the elements 28 and 29 heretofore described astubes. Preferably, however, these elements will be transparent so that light rays may pass through the same, If such a structure is not desired, the partition member may, if necessary, include representations of various colorations, thus permitting of dispensing with the separate elements. Also, while the drawings indicate that yall oil passes through the purifying unit, such unit Aand the pipes extending therefrom may be connected to the lubricating system of the motor in any one of a number of acceptable manners. i

Thus, it is obvious that, among others, the several objects of the invention as specifically afore noted are achieved. It is vapparent that numerous changes in construction and rearrangements of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

l. An apparatus of the character describedfor connection to the lubricating system of a motor and which system includes an oil-supplying line, anoil-delivering line and means for inducing a owof oil through Ysaid lines, said apparatus including a transparent tube connected to said delivering line and disposed at a point where the passage of lubricant therethrough may be observed by the operator of the motor, an oil'puri-V fying unit formed with an inlet and an outlet, a single four-way valveand casing therefor, lines for connecting said valve with Ythe oil-supplying line of said' system, the inlet and outlet of the purifying unit and saidr transparent tube and means for shifting said valve whereby oil maybe caused to'flow from the line conneotable with the oil-supplying line through saidvalve,

thence through the purifying unit and the transparent tube and vunder an additional shifting of said valve, may be caused'to lflow directly from the line connected with the oil-supplyin`g line through the valve to said transparent tube.

2. An apparatus of the character described v,for

connection to the lubricating system of a motor and which system includes an oil-supplying line, an oil-delivering line and means for inducing a flow of oil through said lines, said apparatus including a transparent tube connected to said delivering line and disposed at a point where the passage of lubricant therethrough may be observed by the operator of the'motor, an oil purifying unit formed with an `inlet andan outlet, a single four-way valveand casing therefor, lines for connecting said valve with the oil supplying line of said system, the inlet and outlet of the purifying unit and said transparent tube and means for shifting said valve whereby oil may be caused to flow from the line connectable with the oil-supplying line through said valve, thence through the purifying unit and the transparent tube and under an additional shifting of said valve, n'iay be caused to ow directly from the line connected with the oil-supplying line through the valve to said transparent tube; said shifting means extending to a point adjacent said transparent tube.

SAMUEL DONALD PERLMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Waller May 2, 1933 Cannon Apr. 14, 1936 Gross Aug. 17, 1937 Martin Jan. 20, 1942 Shapiro Mar. 19, 1929 Shapiro May 19, 1931 Dunham Oct. 6, 1914 McKinley Aug. 24, 1915 Clark Aug. 25, 1942 Maunula Mar. 18, 1930 Shipley Dec. 11, 1917 Sweetland Apr. 12, 1927 Anderson Mar. 28, 1911 

